2022 Retro GI Joe Classified Series Wave 1 Vintage Card Comparison
The Hasbro team debuted in hand product of the the Retro GI Joe Classified Series Wave 1 Walmart Exclusive figures at the GI Joe 40th Anniversary Live Stream held Thursday, February 24th 2022. The carded shots featured (from the left) Lady Jaye, Baroness, Gung-Ho, and Destro. The Retro Classified Series features mostly repaint and retooled figures that pay homage to their vintage counterparts in 6″ scale.
7/27/2022 UPDATE: Gung Ho and Destro are IN STOCK and READY to SHIP on Walmart
It’s great to wake up to a surprise and the Walmart Wave 1 Retro Cardback figures are in stock and ready to ship! You can access the link to Walmart below!
Gung Ho
The retro card art illustration gives subtle updates compared to the vintage card from 1983. For example, Gung Ho’s hat is illustrated in the Classified Series design that comes with the figure. Also, the ammo packs on his left thigh. He has a similar expression to his vintage counterpart, and you can see all of Gung Ho’s body on the card. They also made a new backpack and gun for Gung Ho that the mirror the vintage accessories.
Lady Jaye
Lady Jaye’s image was very hard to get during the live stream as her figure was set off to the side away from the others. Her vintage card illustration deviates the most from her vintage card as she is rendered in her Classified Series likeness. Her camera and javelin were updated in the card art and her posture and cheek lines in the Classified Series illustration really mirrors the vintage card art from 1985. The weapons and accessories also mirror the vintage figure really well as she comes packed with a new green backpack, a green camera, and gray javelin, paying homage to the vintage figure.
Destro
The card art is very similar to Destro’s vintage counterpart in pose and emotion. You’ll notice the grenades missing from the left forearm and you get a wider version of Destro where you can see all of his body. Going in a slightly different direction with Destro’s weapons and accessories as Hasbro decided to reuse the briefcase that came packed with the v2 release of the GI Joe Classified Series Destro vs. creating a brand-new backpack style briefcase like the vintage figure. Destro’s gun also deviates slightly from the vintage figure, but the Classified Series version mirrors the card art and not the actual weapon Destro was packed with in 1983.
Baroness
Although similar in pose and emotion, the face illustration on the Retro Classified Series card art looks dramatically different than the vintage card from 1984. In the updated card, her face looks more like a doll as it has more of a gentile and soft look to it. In the 2022, they did not make a new backpack for her, which would have been cool to see a 6″ scale backpack as I think she was one of the most unique looking backpacks for a vintage figure. In addition, her long rifle really does not match her vintage style design very well.
Rocket and Mars on Walmart.com
The Retro GI Joe Classified Series are exclusive to Walmart and the Baroness (code name: MARS) and Lady Jay (code name: ROCKET) are up on the Walmart website under their respective code names.
UPDATE: Looks like Walmart’s site automatically redirecting people their Collector’s page.. So try going thru this shopping list link below and add to cart from the List Page!
https://walmart.com/lists/shared/WL/9ce4beb0-a338-428e-ad49-d90eba0e49d0
You can find the links to these figures here:
- The Baroness (code name MARS)
- https://www.walmart.com/ip/GIJ-RETRO-CARDBACK-CHARACTER-MARS/770146697
- Lady Jaye (code name ROCKET)
- https://www.walmart.com/ip/GIJ-RETRO-CARDBACK-CHARACTER-ROCKET/480193369
3Djoes.com
Images of the vintage GI Joe carded figures can be found on: www.3djoes.com
